12 suspects to face prosecution over GHS548m NSS ghost names scandal — Attorney General

Twelve individuals, including top former officials of the National Service Scheme (NSS), are set to face prosecution over their alleged involvement in a GHS548 million ghost names scandal uncovered between 2018 and 2024.

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, who made this known on Friday, June 13, said the move follows extensive investigations under the government’s anti-corruption drive, Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL).

The scandal, described by the AG as a coordinated criminal enterprise, involved the deployment of thousands of fictitious names onto the NSS payroll system, with payments routed through the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPSS).

“In the 2022/2023 service year alone, GHS350 million was stolen. Total losses from 2018 to 2024 amount to GHS548,333,542,” Dr. Ayine disclosed at the press briefing.

He added that the manipulation was executed by senior NSS staff in collusion with vendors who either supplied no goods or inflated invoices to siphon state funds.

“Our investigations compared monthly data of verified national service personnel from the central management system and what was actually paid through GHIPSS. It was established that a total of 587,543 personnel were supposed to be submitted for payment, but the numbers were inflated to facilitate the fraud,” the AG said.

Among the 12 accused are former NSS Executive Director Mustafa Yusif, former Director General Osei Assibey Antwi, former Deputy Executive Directors Gifty Oware-Mensah as well as some regional and district directors across the country.

Also implicated are several vendors who received millions of cedis into their accounts but failed to provide any proof of services rendered or loans given to service personnel.

“None of the vendors provided evidence to the investigative team or to myself to prove that the amounts of money they received corresponded to the items supplied or the loans supposedly made to the national service personnel,” Dr. Ayine stressed.

He further revealed that some of the vendors and officials involved have entered into non-prosecution agreements with the state and will serve as witnesses to support the trial.

The Office of the Attorney General says the charges will be filed in the first week of July, and efforts are ongoing to retrieve all stolen funds as part of the ORAL campaign.